Like a Game of Chess
by CthulhuEXT
Summary: Umineko fanfic. Explores the fight between Battler and Beatrice. Guest appearence by Frederica Bernkastel. Oneshot.


Note: I do not own any of the characters within this story. They are the property of _07__th__ Expansion_.

This is an _Umineko no Naku Koro ni_ fan fiction. I doubt many of you have read it yet, but don't worry, the English patch should be out soon. Translation of episode 1 is complete, it just needs to be edited.

This explores the mind of the central character of Umineko, Ushiromiya Battler, as well as his battle against Beatrice, the golden witch. Sorry that I'm taking so long to update Overconfidence guys, heh.

**LIKE A GAME OF CHESS**

Battler watched as Beatrice sorted out the chess pieces on the board. He was sat down on a wooden stool in front of an ivory chessboard. There were candles hanging off the walls which lit the room an eerie yellow. A small table stood just to the side of the board, with nothing on it.

"So," said Beatrice, as she placed the pieces on the board. "White or black?"

"Black," said Battler, confident. "It doesn't matter what you do, I'll be able to counter it."

"Kihihihhi, I love your confidence," she replied, and turned the board around so the black pieces would face him. "I'm surprised you managed to go this long. I thought you would've accepted it by now."

"I'll never accept it," he said. "There are no such things as witches. There is a rational explanation for everything, and I'm going to find it."

"Alright," said Beatrice, as she sat down in her seat across from him, and crossed her legs. "Explain this."

She moved the third pawn from the right forward two spaces. Battler straightened his tie, and leaned forward, staring at the piece intently, gathering in all the facts, searching his mind for an explanation. There is a human criminal at work here, he was sure of it. He could explain everything, he just needed a way...

"Take your time," she said, giggling. Battler just waved her off as he continued to look at the pawn. Feeling confident, he moved one of his pawns forward two spaces as well.

"There you go," he said smugly, crossing his arms with his eyes shut. "That should just about do it."

"Oh, very interesting," she said, amused. "But I don't think you considered this."

She moved another pawn forward. Battler opened his eyes and cursed under his breath. Damnit, this was a tough one... how could he explain that? No human should be able to... no, he shook his head. It IS possible, he just needed to look at this another way. He turned his eyes away from the table and looked at Beatrice. He needed to see things from her perspective, that's what he needed to do. He looked back down at the board, and reversed it in his mind. Now he was the white player, now what would the white player do? He grinned, and moved another piece forward.

They kept at this for a while, Beatrice presenting strange situations, and Battler attempting to explain them away, only for Beatrice to offer something even stranger. He was having a hard time keeping up. But he was confident, confident he could do this. He just needed to concentrate, sort out the facts, and see things from his enemy's point of view. To defeat your enemy, you must know your enemy, is what they say.

Soon, a young woman appeared. She was dressed in a strange outfit, and had a lifeless look in her eyes. Battler looked over at her. He had seen that girl in this place many times, and she kind of freaked him out. She claimed to be a witch like Beatrice, but that doesn't matter. She is just a spectator for now. She has no role within this fight.

She had a tray in her hands, with a kettle, two tea cups, a small pitcher of milk, and a small dish with sugar in it. A tea set. She brought it over to them and put it on the now no longer empty table that was beside the chessboard.

"Your tea," she said, putting no life into her words.

"Why thank you miss Bernkastel," said Beatrice "You didn't have to do this, you know."

"I know," said Bernkastel. "I was just getting bored again."

"You have a habit of doing that it seems," said Beatrice, as she poured herself some tea. "Maybe you should have another round with Lambdadelta?"

"No thank you," said Bernkastel. "She was a scary witch. I wouldn't like to fight her again."

Battler shrugged, no idea what they were talking about. He poured himself some tea, and mixed in some milk and sugar. He had no idea how Beatrice could take it black.

"Thank you miss," he said. "I uh, I never caught your full name."

"Bernkastel," she said, bowing. "Frederica Bernkastel."

"Frederica," he said. "That's a nice name. Not like mine."

"What's wrong with your name?" she asked.

"It sounds like a dog's name!" he said. "God, every day I curse that no good dad of mine for giving me such a horrible name. I mean, no one in our family has a proper name like Takeshi or Hokuto, but at least they aren't called _Battler_, god."

He put a hand on his forehead, sighing. Bernkastel didn't crack a smile.

"I see," she said. "Well, I will you see later. Tell me how the game goes."

"Oh, we will," said Beatrice, giggling. "Farewell."

Bernkastel bowed, and then walked off. Battler sipped his tea as he watched her go. Something about her was strange, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. She wasn't at all like Beatrice, she seemed to have more... experience, if that was possible. Strange, because Beatrice looked far older than her, Bernkastel looked about twelve years old. He decided not to think about, it and straightened his tie once again.

Beatrice moved one of her knights over a few spaces. "Check," she said.

Battler's eyes opened wide. How, how did he let this happen? He wasn't paying attention, that's why. He hadn't been concentrating. He had to think this through, there had to be a way to explain this. There is no way a witch is behind everything, absolutely no way. Breathe slowly. Reverse the chessboard. See things from your enemy's perspective. Damnit, he couldn't explain this, there was no way--- no way no way... unless...

He cracked a smile. "You almost had me there," he said. "It seems we overlooked something, however."

Beatrice smiled. "Oh?"

"Yeah," he said, then he moved a bishop across and took the knight. "You weren't paying attention, hehe."

Beatrice giggled. "Kihihihihihi, oh you really are a fun one," she said. "Ah, I can't wait to utterly _crush_ you, and have you begging by my feet, finally accepting me once and for all."

"Not gonna happen," he said. "I'll never admit you exist. I'll deny you with every bone in my body. I'll deny you to the end of time, to the end of existence itself. No matter what, I will deny you. Even if I can't explain something, it doesn't mean you are real. There is an explanation, I just haven't found it. So long as I remember that, I will deny you to the very end."

"Kihihihihhihihi, good" she replied, as she moved another. "This will only make things more fun."

"Indeed," he said, and moved a rook over. "Check."

------------------------------

Well, there you have it. I'm not sure how many of you will actually read this, especially since pretty much no one has read Umineko yet. Oh well, I had fun.

Also, I didn't actually make up a lot of the stuff in this. Umineko is big on the whole chess metaphor. Battler's distaste for his name and Beatrice's preference for black tea is taken straight from the sound novel, heheh. It's nice how it's full of funny little things like that. I greatly recommend everyone read it when the translation comes out. It is a very worthy sequel to Higurashi.

Also the girl, Bernkastel, has actually already appeared in Higurashi. She appears in the final scene of the last episode, a lot of people mistook her for Rika, which isn't all that surprising, heheh. Hopefully, Season 3 will expand upon her a bit more. They cut out a lot of her scenes, unfortunately.


End file.
